One of the current on-going struggles between NFL players and teams is voluntary OTA attendance. Coaches and teams, including the Cleveland Browns under Kevin Stefanski, want players to attend and get in work. Players, citing an already busy schedule and injury concerns, do not want to attend any team-driven organized activity.

The Browns are uniquely at the center of this debate because center J.C. Tretter is the current NFLPA president and has been outspoken about not attending voluntary workouts. Tretter recently wrote about it on the NFLPA’s website.

“Last year was the first time most players got to experience not attending in-person offseason programming,’’ Tretter wrote. “For many, it was eye-opening. Players felt better, physically and mentally, and the injury data supports those anecdotes. Now, as we stare down the start of the 2021 season, players are realizing they do actually have a choice in how they prepare for the season — and that the voluntary offseason program truly is voluntary.”

Tretter recently told MMQB’s Albert Breer that he views voluntary offseason workouts via his own experiences with them. In his first ever OTA, Tretter broke his leg 10 minutes into the first drill.

“OTAs have been out of hand for a long time,” Tretter told Breer. “They’re full speed, full contact, nonpadded practices, and guys are getting beat up in them.”

In his weekly column, Breer also reported that Browns players had negotiated OTA attendance with coaches last weekend after missing the start of volunteer OTAs. Per Breer’s reporting, players felt comfortable in not attending in part because Baker Mayfield already hosted an offseason passing camp in Austin.

Ultimately, maybe there’s some middle ground to be found here. But it also feels as if for the Browns and other teams, offseason voluntary workouts not held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic means they never come back in full the same way. Players are still working out on their own, but also benefited from not racking up as many miles on their legs over the offseason. That might be even more important with the 17 game regular season incoming.

This phase of the NFL offseason runs through June 18, so it is possible that some Browns veterans will report between now and then.